Alicia "LA" Limtiaco
Alicia "LA" Limtiaco was a contestant on Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 8th place. Personality LA was heavily emotionally lacking throughout her stay in the competition, with her believing that emotions were weakness and not meant to be shown, this, along with her lack of creativity, lead to her elimination. However, in the kitchen, she started off as among the strongest chefs on the red team, and was usually very consistent. Season 5 Episode 1 During the Signature Dish Challenge, LA was the ninth person to have her dish judged by Ramsay. She made a fish and chips, which Ramsay deemed terrible. During prep, LA got angry when Lacey decided to leave in the middle of prep, and was still disgusted with her when she came back. When the teams were lined up, the women revealed their team name, which was "Team Saffron". It was changed to "Spice Racks" after a request from Colleen. During dinner service, LA was on the meat station. She was not shown much since her team never went past appetizers. After Ramsay shut down the restaurant, her team was declared the winners because of Carol's strong performance as a waitress. Episode 2 Back in the dorms, LA was still upset that Lacey quit in the middle of prep, and wanted her gone from the red team. During the Scallop Cleaning Challenge, LA got all eight of her scallops accepted. Despite that, her team lost the challenge 35-36 and had to prepare a raw bar for the next dinner service. Like the rest of her team, she was angry when Lacey did not come down to do the punishment until six hours in. During prep, LA saw Ji injure her ankle and showed some concern. During dinner service, she was on the dessert station. She was not shown much, but she did show some admiration for Ji's determination despite her injury. Her team lost the dinner service. LA was not nominated for elimination, but she gave Ji an emotional standing ovation during her departure, along with her teammates and the blue team. Episode 3 Back in the dorms, LA and the rest of the red team confronted Lacey, asking her if she was actually serious about being in the competition. LA was not seen participating in the Meat & Cow Challenge, and the red team eventually lost. Their punishment was to carry two large sides of beef and eat cow offal. During punishment, she almost puked while eating the offal. During the Steakhouse double dinner service, LA was a waitress during the first seating, and she was on the garnish station with Paula during the second seating. She was not seen much in either seating, although was angry when she saw that the blue team was trying to sabotage their efforts. Her team won the service, but she secretly admitted that she would have preferred losing since she wanted some dead weight, being Colleen, gone for her poor performances. Episode 4 The red team won the Football Team & Cheerleaders Breakfast Service Challenge and were rewarded with a camping experience at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. During dinner service, LA was on the meat station with Colleen. She got frustrated with Colleen when she put their meat entrées in the convection oven to keep them warm, and continually asked her questions. Later, LA sent up a Wellington that did not have the bottoms cut off properly, and blamed Colleen for that mistake. Both teams lost the dinner service. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 5 During the Asian Fusion Challenge, LA was paired with Paula on the seafood dish. They made an ahi tuna tempura, which was praised for its temperature and cooking, and they won the seafood round. Her team won the challenge 2-1, and was rewarded with sumo wrestling lessons given by Ramsay and Jean-Philippe, and sake tasting. During dinner service, LA was on the appetizer station. She got her team off to a great start with her risottos. Both teams lost the dinner service, but because of her great start, she was named "Best of the Worst" for her team, and was asked to nominate one of her teammates. She nominated Andrea for elimination because of her poor performance on the meat station. Episode 6 Back in the dorms, LA felt bad that Colleen was eliminated, and wondered if she made the wrong decision by not nominating her instead of Andrea. During the Bar Mitzvah Planning Challenge, LA presented the red team's braised brisket with cherry BBQ sauce. It was deemed the best by Max, and she won the brisket round for her team. Despite that, the red team lost the challenge 1-2, and were forced to decorate the dining room for the next night’s service, based on the instructions of Francisco the Party Planner, who she called even gayer than she was. During the Bar Mitzvah dinner service, LA was on the dessert station. At one point, she was seen trying to help Coi on the meat station. Her team lost the service, and Andrea was named "Best of the Worst". Despite her decent performance, LA was Andrea's second nominee for elimination, with Coi being the first. Along with Coi and Carol, she tried to convince Ramsay that Andrea was the weakest performer of their team, but failed. She survived elimination. Episode 7 Back in the dorms, LA was not happy when Andrea called her weaker than Carol due to her lack of passion showing in the past services, but Paula agreed with Andrea. Before the Tapas Leftovers Challenge, LA and the red team welcomed Giovanni as a new teammate. During the challenge, she made an asparagus and ginger soup, which Ramsay compared both the look and taste like it came from the bottom of a dishwasher. She failed to score a point, but the red team won the challenge 3-2. They were rewarded with a day at the Hollywood Park to see a horse race. During dinner service, LA was on the fish station. She was unresponsive when Ramsay asked her for the John Dory, but after Ramsay called her a silly cow, she finally responded, even though she was angry at that comment. Despite a sub-par performance, her team won the dinner service. Episode 8 Back in the dorms, LA confronted Lacey over the fact she was still around because Ramsay only cared about service performances, and asked her if she was really serious about being in the competition and becoming a head chef. During the Blind Taste Test, LA volunteered to sit out to even the teams at four members each, as she feared her poor palate would hinder her team. The red team won the challenge 8-7, and were rewarded with a photo shoot for TV Guide in the restaurant, and received makeovers. During dinner service, LA was on the garnish station. She got angry when Carol's poor performance was slowing the momentum down, and sent over bland and cold mashed potatoes, causing Ramsay to order her to wake up. The red team lost the service, despite the fact that the blue team lost a member during it, and Ramsay told her that the only thing she forgot was her alarm clock and sleeping blanket. LA was the red team's first nominee for elimination, with Carol being the second. After Andrea joined them, she was eliminated for looking asleep in the last few services, and the fact that she did not show any passion. During her exit interview, she said she did not show emotions because they were weaknesses, and that she will never be weak. Ramsay's comment: "LA was a real workhorse in the kitchen. I kicked her out of Hell's Kitchen because she lacked two crucial skills to be a great chef — leadership and creativity." Episode 14/15 LA was one of the six chefs who returned for the finale. When she came back into the kitchen, Ramsay reminded her on how she was looking asleep during the eighth service. She was picked second by Paula, following Andrea and before Lacey. Back in the dorms, LA was concerned about Lacey's performance, and even urged her to at least perform with a little bit of effort. During prep, she was still concerned about Lacey and secretly hoped that she would walk out in the middle of service. During dinner service, LA was on the appetizer station. She was not seen much during the first half, but expressed surprise when Andrea was performing more poorly than Lacey. Later, she was called over by Paula to help Lacey on the garnish station. Paula eventually lost the finals to Danny. Nomination history Trivia *She and Coi are the youngest of the season, at age 22 (32 now). *She is the fourth contestant to be named "Best of the Worst" without making it to the black jackets, following Chris (Season 1), Melissa (Season 3), and Louross (Season 4). She is also the first contestant in this bunch who did not finish in 7th place. *She is the third openly gay contestant of Hell's Kitchen, following Jessica (Season 1) and Wil (also from Season 5). *She has had two different jackets. Her first jacket in the first episode says her first name, Alicia instead of her nickname LA, which was seen on the other jacket afterwards. *After her appearance on the show, she worked at the Monte Carlo and Planet Hollywood resorts, before moving to the MGM Grand Hotel Resort as a Master Cook. Quotes *"He called me a cow... for the first time." *(About Francisco) "I'm gay, but that dude is parade gay." *"In the real world, you wouldn't have someone yelling at you like that. You wouldn't have someone calling you a cow or bitch, you wouldn't. Because in the real world, if some called you a cow or a bitch, you would walk up to him and sock him in the face." *(After being eliminated) "I definitely think Chef Ramsay made the wrong decision. Anything I did was to the best of my ability. I'm big on not showing emotions in the kitchen. Emotions are weakness, and I will never be weak, never." Category:Chef Category:Season 5 Category:Nevadans Category:Final Service Brigade Category:LGBT Category:8th Place